00:00Which message would the Secretary of State Marco Rubio bring for the Europeans to Munich?
00:06That was one of the key questions here and one of those listening very carefully to Mr.
00:11Rubio's message was of course the German Foreign Minister, Johann Waderful.
00:15Good morning, Mr. Waderful.
00:17So what did you make of Marco Rubio's speech?
00:19It was a very positive speech, underlining our common basis we do have between the United
00:26States and Europe, Germany also, making clear that we have cultural bonds, that we have
00:36a common language, that we have a common democratic ground.
00:41So that was very important and I would say the key message was let's do it again.
00:48We were successful through all the times of the Cold War.
00:52We came to the very situation that the Iron Curtain fell down, Germany was reunited, that
01:01was a success of the transatlantic relation and our bond and NATO of course.
01:07And we are no stronger than ever.
01:10I would say with Finland and Sweden joining us, NATO is bigger than it ever was before.
01:19So I would say his positive message for the future was let's do it again.
01:24And I would say this is an engagement Europe should accept and we should think of course what
01:31should we do?
01:32What is our contribution to make us successful in the future as well?
01:37The tone was more conciliatory than J.D. Vance's last year here in Munich.
01:42But there were some words where they could sound alarm bells with the Europeans.
01:48When Marco Rubio spoke of a climate cult, for example, what did you make of that?
01:54The speech was a different category to the speech we heard last year.
01:59So it was a speech about foreign policies, of course, about the threats which lay ahead
02:04and which we are faced with.
02:06Climate is one of the one of the threats, but also migration.
02:10He addressed that.
02:11And of course, you see a lot of governments in Europe also struggling with that issue and
02:17taking countermeasures as Germany does.
02:19So we are reading from the same paper.
02:21Of course, climate change is there.
02:24And of course, we have to give answers.
02:26We have not to deny that climate change is existing.
02:31But I understood his speech in a way that we have to give flexible answers, not to be dogmatic.
02:37So of course, I wouldn't say that we have a hundred percent overlapping between our priorities
02:46and the priorities from the U.S. side.
02:48But I would say this is really a common ground for a bright future between the United States and Europe.
02:56And don't you see a risk that if this is a more conciliatory tone, that maybe some of those countries
03:04that don't invest a lot at the moment in Europe in defense and security, that they might go back to
03:11sleep?
03:12No, we can nobody allow to go back to sleep because the threats are there.
03:19Russia is stepping up with its army.
03:23It's recruiting in a manner which is, of course, scaring for all of us.
03:29And China is also, I would say, not only a partner for us, but also a systemic rival.
03:36So we are faced with a lot of threats. We have to, for us, for our prosperity in the future,
03:44we have to have critical minerals, raw earths and semiconductors.
03:49These are questions which are laying ahead where we have to find common answers.
03:55And this was the offer from Marco Robi, as far as I understood it, that he and the United States
04:01is ready to do it together with us.
04:03I didn't hear Ukraine mentioned in the speech.
04:08That was, but in the Q&A session, he was absolutely clear about that.
04:14So he made clear, and this is also our understanding, that we are now coming to the very concrete, severe
04:20points
04:21where Russia has to show whether there is really a willingness to bring the war to an end.
04:26And he said, and this is also our position, that we have to put more pressure on Russia, as the
04:32United States is doing in their talks, in their negotiations with India.
04:40And so Putin really feels economic pressure, and that should bring him now to the result that it is better
04:51to make now concessions and to find now a solution for this war.
04:57So after Munich, Marco Rubio is traveling on to Hungary, amongst other countries.
05:03Viktor Orbán famously called Ukraine an enemy because it hinders access to cheap energy sources, in Viktor Orbán's words.
05:12What kind of a message do you expect Marco Rubio to bring to Viktor Orbán?
05:19Viktor Orbán is still a NATO partner, and has to be integrated into the NATO frame, and I would say
05:25he would be concentrating on these questions.
05:28I have no doubt that Marco Rubio has the same understanding of how the Ukrainian war has to be solved
05:37as ours is.
05:39Thank you very much, Johan Wadervoll.
05:40Thank you very much.
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